School Board, attorney discuss Curtiss' return

The Libby School District is still looking for avenues to take regarding the Mort Curtiss case.

Curtiss is waiting to return to his teaching position, as per an arbitration agreement as a result of drug charges from a March 4 to 5, 2011, incident in the Elks Lodge.

The School District isn’t quite ready for that yet.

K.W. Maki, Libby Superintendent, said the School District and its lawyer were looking at the options they have. One would be to set up conditions for Curtiss and get him back to work at the next possible time. The other would be to pursue the case against Curtiss further.

“I did what I thought was right, and I pursued that,” Maki said. “I still think what I did was right, but whatever’s good for the kids is what is important.”

At this point in the case, the arbitration has stated that Curtiss must be put back in his old position as quickly as possible. 

The school district, noting that criminal charges don’t factor into the situation anymore, have cited Curtiss’ role as a possible role model for students in the community as a major reason for the hesitation, and his incident at the Elks was a violation of the District’s moral code.

But for the district to pursue the case further in the legal realm would be futile, says Curtiss’ attorney, Scott Hilderman.

“There is no basis for an appeal,” Hilderman said. “It would be a waste of time and money.” 

Curtiss and his wife Cindy declined to comment.

Hilderman, in the first stages of the arbitration aftermath, stated that Curtiss might return to work Oct. 22, this past Monday. That was obviously not the case.

The division now lies between the arbitration and the school district’s moral code.

“We really didn’t lose,” Maki said. “But we really didn’t win. Our attorney is preparing our options now.”

Curtiss was charged with distributing controlled drugs to an informant.